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WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a
letter to United States Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer
Patrick Donahoe, 88 members of
the United States House of Representatives urged the Post Office to continue delivering medications to all Americans six days a week.

In the letter sent prior to today's Senate Homeland Security and Government Operations Committee hearing, the 88 Representatives touted the benefits of mail-service pharmacies:

"In our home districts, Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA and other beneficiaries currently rely on low cost delivery of prescription drugs to their doorstep. Whether it is a homebound senior that cannot walk or drive to the pharmacy, or a Veteran who lives in a rural area with limited access to the prescription drugs they need, all of these home delivery beneficiaries cannot afford to go without their medications for days. Nor should they have to obtain their medications through more costly delivery methods, which would only draw business away from the USPS and threaten its long term financial stability.

"This growing population of home delivery prescription beneficiaries is not only good for the USPS and patients, but our government as a whole. According to the Department of Defense, the government saved $33 million in FY2010 alone through use of TRICARE's Home Delivery Program. Home delivery is the most cost effective way of filling prescriptions for TRICARE beneficiaries, and saves Medicare and Medicaid money as well. This integral part of the USPS's services should not be changed in your reform and restructuring of the federal postal service."

"About 1-in-6 prescriptions that are home delivered arrive on Saturday. Consumers count on getting their prescriptions at the right time and often can't wait an additional two days, or even three days in the case of federal holidays that fall on a Monday," said
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt.

Ninety-day home delivery is popular with patients because it is less expensive and more convenient than waiting in line at the drugstore each month. With mail-service pharmacies, patients can get private counseling over the phone from trained pharmacists seven days a week, 24-hours a day.